Artificial-intelligence search firm Perplexity said it has delivered an unsolicited, all-cash offer to Alphabet Inc. to acquire the Chrome web browser for $34.5 billion, according to a letter sent Tuesday to Chief Executive Sundar Pichai. Perplexity, last valued at about $18 billion, stated that several large venture-capital funds have committed to finance the proposal in full. The San Francisco-based startup added that, if successful, it would retain Google as the default search engine in Chrome, preserve the open-source Chromium code base and invest $3 billion in the project over the next two years. The overture arrives as U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta weighs remedies after ruling in 2024 that Google unlawfully maintained a monopoly in online search. The Justice Department has suggested forcing Alphabet to divest Chrome; the company has called the idea extreme and signalled it will appeal any order requiring a sale. Chrome controls roughly 60% of the global browser market and serves an estimated 3.5 billion users. Industry estimates put its value at $20 billion to $50 billion, and other potential suitors—including OpenAI and Yahoo—have expressed interest should regulators mandate a divestiture. Alphabet shares rose about 1% after news of the bid, which analysts view as a long shot but emblematic of rising competition in search and browser technology.